For NBA fans all over the world, the February of 2012 was an unexpectedly heart warming month. During that month, Jeremy Lin, an NBA player, had a chance to excel, show his overlooked skills, and prove to many NBA teams that he had the vigor and motivation o not only play but also excel in professional basketball.
       

Despite having an extremely remarkable and successful  and high school career, Lin  was not offered  any athletic scholarships to Division I basketball colleges.  Even though Stanford, was a street away from his High School, Palo Alto High School, he was not offered any scholarship to the school. He eventually ended up going to Harvard with a major in economics, and soon began to shine as a young walk on basketball star in the NCAA, the college basketball association. Despite his sublime college career, Jeremy Lin was overlooked in the NBA draft, and went undrafted. According to an interview by  Espn.com, Lin said  “Coming out of college into the draft, being Asian-American and being from Harvard, that’s not going to be an advantage because of stereotypes”. Regardless of  these stereotypes, Lin persevered through many tribulations. Through the course of two years, he constantly tried out for teams, got cute from teams, and bounced around from place to place. He was signed on to the Golden State Warriors for a little while, but was cut shortly after. He did not receive  a lot of playing time with little to no opportunities. Because he had no guaranteed salary, he was constantly living on his brother’s couch, and later, his teammate Landry Field’s couch. However, his distress came to a resolve when the New York Knicks finally signed him during the 2011-2012 NBA season.

The Knicks weren’t playing too well that year, and the injuries began to pile up. Their playable point guards, the position Jeremy played, were running thin, with injuries to Mike Bibby, Baron Davis, and Toney Douglas. Their misfortunes paved the road for Jeremy Lin. Against the Nets, he was given playing time, and he played well, scoring 28 points and dishing out 8 assists. This game initiated the  spark of “Linsanity”.

After the win against the Nets, Jeremy Lin was granted a starting role. This was the stimulant that ignited Jeremy Lin’s career. He led the team to a weak with 4 victories and no losses, averaging over 27 points.  Many more amazing moments followed, including a game winning three-pointer against the Raptors. Social media, the NBA world, and Asian-Americans (including me) all over the globe were all going insane throughout his amazing run. This time was named “Linsanity”, and other sayings were brought up as well, such as “Linsane”, “Linning”, and “The Lin King”.

I personally was an avid fan of Lin during  “Linsanity”. He immediately grew into one of my role models, because I played basketball as well. To go from anonymity to superstardom- that was an accomplishment that was acclaimed by few other than Jeremy.

However, as Knick star Carmelo Anthony came back from injury and personal problems, Jeremy Lin’s role began to diminish.  After a season ending injury, Jeremy Lin was sidelined for the playoffs, in which the Knicks were eliminated against the Boston Celtics.  Although the Knicks had supposedly “guaranteed” Jeremy that they were going to resign him, he was traded to the Houston Rockets that offseason.

During that offseason, fans, critics, and teammates were creating a lot of hype around whether Lin would play well, or if he would fly under expectations.  To many of his critics, his first stint with the Houston Rockets was considered a disappointment.  Lin was only averaging about 13 points and 6 assists per game, and publicity around “Linsanity” began to dwindle. The following year was just as lukewarm, where his production decreased and he only averaged 13 points and 4 assists per game. Because of this, he  began to come off the bench for a majority of the games behind point guard Patrick Beverley.  Lin, not even guaranteed a starting role, lost many supporters; many once avid followers of “Linsanity” ceased to exist.

After two disappointing years in Houston, Jeremy Lin was traded to the LA Lakers this past 2014 offseason. This gives Jeremy Lin a fresh new start, on a new, struggling team. Although the Lakers are known in the history of the NBA to be a prestigious, award-riddled team, recent struggles have kept them out of playoff contention. This gives Jeremy Lin ample opportunity to flourish in the league. With the leadership of Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, two future hall of famers, he has the chance to mature into a young star in the league. In his debut in a preseason game with the Lakers, he had a dazzling 10 assists. In his second game, he had 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. In his last game of the preseason, he had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals; this was  accomplished in only  24 minutes! This new trade could lead to the resurgence of Jeremy Lin.  Being one of the prominent players on the team, he has a chance to shine, and to truly show his arsenal of NBA moves.
The potential of “Linsanity” has always been there, and I truly think that it can be shown this 2014-2015 NBA season. As the NBA season is approaching, many fans (including me) and critics will see how Jeremy Lin will adjust to the Lakers. As Jeremy Lin said in one press conference after a devastating loss in the playoffs, “ Suffering produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us”. This saying by Lin is very applicable to his recent struggle with the Houston Rockets, and hopefully he can put the pieces together to resurge into “Linsanity”. We fans hope that, this upcoming season, he will emerge as one of the top tier point guards in the NBA.